Breakdown of Kello ei ole vielä puoli kolme.
olla
to be
ei
no / not (en, et, ei, emme, ette, eivät)
vielä
yet / still
kello
watch / clock (the time)
Questions & Answers about Kello ei ole vielä puoli kolme.
Why does puoli kolme mean "half past two" instead of "half past three"?
In Finnish, half-hours look forward to the upcoming hour, not backward. The phrase puoli kolme literally means "halfway to three." Whenever you want to say "half past," you must use the number for the next hour!
Why do we use Kello here instead of a word for "It"?
English uses the dummy subject "It" for time, like "It is two o'clock." Finnish uses the word for clock or watch: Kello on... (The clock is...). To make it negative, you simply say Kello ei ole... (The clock is not...).
How does vielä work in this sentence?
Vielä means "yet" or "still." When paired with the negative verb ei, the phrase ei ... vielä translates to "not yet." Notice that vielä comes right after the verb ole, whereas English often puts "yet" at the very end of the sentence.
Do numbers change their form when stating the current time?
No, when you are simply stating what the time is right now using Kello on... or Kello ei ole..., the number stays in its basic, dictionary form. That is why we use the basic form kolme here.